The musical, now in its 57th year, originally opened in 1960. At the time of its closing, the production will have played a total of 21,552 performances in New York, including 17,162 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
The musical will be followed by The Crusade of Connor Stephens, which is set to begin previews June 17 at the Orbach.
A modern twist on Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks, featuring music by Harvey Schmidt and book, lyrics, and direction by Tom Jones, is the quintessential story of a boy and girl who fall in love and then quickly grow apart when they realize they want to experience the world.
During its original run at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, The Fantasticks logged a record-breaking 17,162 performances. When the original production closed in 2002, news of the closing made the front page of The New York Times. In 2006, the revival opened at The Theater Center, directed by Jones.
The current cast includes Bradley Dean as El Gallo (The Narrator), Emily Behny as The Girl (Luisa), Nathan Goodrich as The Boy (Matt), Dan Sharkey as The Boy’s Father (Hucklebee), Dale Hensley as The Girl's Father (Bellomy), MacIntyre Dixon as The Old Actor (Henry), Michael Nostrand as The Man Who Dies (Mortimer), and Aaron Wright as The Mute. The production also features Scott Willis, John Thomas Waite, and Samantha Bruce.
In March 2015, the little musical about a Boy, a Girl, and the wall that separates them had announced that it would play its final performance on May 3, 2015, the 55th anniversary of the opening of the show in 1960. However, producers Catherine Russell and Al Parinello announced April 25, 2015, that two anonymous fans of the show had stepped forward and offered financial resources to keep the show running.
“Over the past few weeks, two longtime fans of the show called yelling at me for not letting them know the show was closing,” Russell said in a statement at that time. “Each offered financial help to keep the show running in NYC. I initially declined the offers, but after much thought and consideration, I've decided to accept their generous offers that will help keep The Fantasticks alive. I was surprised and moved to see the enormous outpouring of emotion and attention the closing announcement received. People called the box office crying and telling stories about the first time they saw the show. I didn’t realize how many people love the show and feel like it’s an important part of their lives. The Fantasticks truly is a treasured and iconic piece of NYC that should live on.”
Check out photos from the musical’s celebration of its 20,000th performance below:
Robert Felstein is the musical director/pianist, and Marjorie Fitts is the harpist. The production stage manager is Paul Blankenship, and the assistant stage manager is Earlye Rhodes.
Tickets are $77 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (212) 921-7862, going to Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the The Theater Center box office. A limited number of premium front-row seats are available for each performance priced at $127.
